Severe Childhood Pneumonia Linked To Specific Strain Of Staphylococcus Aureus (p 753)February 28, 2002Authors of a French study in this week's issue of THE LANCET highlight the link between a specific strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and a severe form of pneumonia in children. Between 1986 and 1998, eight cases of community-acquired pneumonia due to S aureus strains carrying the gene for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) were recorded in France, six of which were fatal. Jerome Etienne from the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire of Lyon, France, aimed to assess the clinical features of these eight cases, and those of other cases identified prospectively, and to compare them with the characteristics of patients with pneumonia caused by PVL-negative strains. Eight retrospective and eight prospective cases of PVL-positive S aureus pneumonia were compared with 36 cases of PVL-negative S aureus pneumonia. The investigators recorded age, length of hospital stay, risk factors for infection, signs and symptoms, laboratory findings, antibiotic treatment, and serial radiological findings for all patients. The average age was around 15 years for patients with PVL-positive S aureus compared with 70 years for patients who had PVL-negative strains. Influenza-like illness had occurred during the 2 days before hospital admission in 12 of the 16 PVL-positive patients, but in only three of 33 PVL-negative patients. Markers for PVL-positive infections included temperature (greater than 39°C), heart rate above 140 beats per minute, and a reduction in white-blood cells (leucopenia). The survival rate two days after admission was 63% for the PVL-positive patients and 94% for PVL-negative individuals. Jerome Etienne comments: "PVL-positive strains of S aureus can complicate influenza-like illness in otherwise healthy children and young adults, with rapid progression to severe pneumonia. Although the comparison of the disease manifestations after infection with PVL-positive or PVL-negative S aureus is complicated by the difference in age of the typical patients, we note that the younger and previously healthier group are more at risk of death than their elderly and infirm counterparts." Lancet |
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| Related Pneumonia Current Events and Pneumonia News Articles Prioritizing low-cost, simple health measures would save 2.5 million child lives a year Almost a third of the children under age five who die each year could be saved if governments rebalance health spending to ensure low-cost, simple interventions such as safe water and hygiene, bed nets and basic maternal and newborn care, leading aid agency World Vision said today. Currently, 8.8 million children a year die before age five, most of preventable causes. Fewer emergency patients seen within recommended time frame One in four emergency department patients in 2006 waited longer to be evaluated by a clinician than recommended at triage, an increase from one in five in 1997. Possible help in fight against muscle-wasting disease A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease, according to researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York. Henry Ford Hospital study: A MRSA strain linked to high death rates A strain of MRSA that causes bloodstream infections is five times more lethal than other strains and has shown to have some resistance to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin used to treat MRSA, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. Commentary warns of unexpected consequences of proton pump inhibitor use in reflux disease Despite being highly effective and beneficial for many patients, unexpected consequences are emerging in patients who are prescribed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for reflux diseases. Scientists discover influenza's Achilles heel: Antioxidants As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama researchers have raised hopes that they have found an Achilles' heel for all strains of the flu-antioxidants. Lessons from flu seasons past Pregnant women who catch the flu are at serious risk for flu-related complications, including death, and that risk far outweighs the risk of possible side effects from injectable vaccines containing killed virus, according to an extensive review of published research and data from previous flu seasons. Older Patients with Dementia at Increased Risk for Flu Mortality An epidemiological study on pneumonia and influenza (P&I) in adults age 65 and over reports that patients with dementia are diagnosed with flu less frequently, have shorter hospital stays, and have a fifty percent higher rate of death than those without dementia. OMRF scientists discover promising new path for treating traumas A discovery by scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation could help save lives threatened by traumatic injuries like those sustained in car crashes or on the battlefield. The work also holds potential for treating severe infectious diseases and diabetes. Scientists create NICE solution to pneumonia vaccine testing problems Medical clinics the world over could benefit from new software* created at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where a team of scientists has found a way to improve the efficiency of a pneumonia vaccine testing method developed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). More Pneumonia Current Events and Pneumonia News Articles |
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